Seoul, March 16 (IANS) South Korea’s exports of information and communication technology (ICT) products reached the second-largest value for any February last month despite the fall in chip sales, government data showed on Sunday.
Outbound shipments of ICT products came to US$16.71 billion last month, up 1.2 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT.
The country’s ICT imports climbed 5.6 percent on-year to stand at $10.9 billion, resulting in a trade surplus of $5.81 billion, reports Yonhap news agency.
By product, exports of semiconductors and display panels fell 3 percent and 5.1 percent, respectively.
But global sales of South Korean mobile phones surged 33.3 percent on-year. Exports of computers and communications equipment also spiked 26.9 percent and 74.1 percent, respectively.
By nation, shipments to the United States jumped 11.5 percent from a year earlier, and those to Vietnam went up 15.6 percent. Exports to Thailand and India soared 124.3 percent and 54.9 percent, respectively.
But exports to China sank 19.6 percent due mainly to a marked decrease in semiconductor exports amid the U.S.’ restriction on high bandwidth memory chip exports to China.
Shipments to the European Union went down 7.6 percent and those to Japan lost 5.7 percent on-year in February, the data showed.
Meanwhile, the science ministry here said recently it will begin a five-year joint project with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) worth $30 million this year to foster digital innovation in the ASEAN region.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said it will discuss the details of the project at the two-day ASEAN Digital Ministers Meeting.
The project is aimed at applying South Korea’s advanced digital technologies in ASEAN nations to facilitate their digital transformation and foster economic growth.
—IANS
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